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In the Real World—Before the Attack on Warehouse "Souley"

On Earth, out of game, people were following the events on Terra with a passion that had hardly been seen in decades, not even for important political events.

Everyone was enraptured by this epic war for survival where death surely meant the end of your character—and, therefore, the loss of all your progress in a game which had the potential to make you rich and famous in the real world! It was like all the most intense aspects of sports and business bundled together.

Of course, people were paying such attention to it in the first place because of all the famous players in the game participating. Had the 7 Gods been occupied somewhere else, it was likely that nobody would care about the war on Terra as much as they did. But the presence of these famous players gave journalists and streamers a story to fixate on. Usually, the most exciting topics were subjects like newly discovered dungeons or fashionable items. An event like this was a welcome change of pace for the media!

The specialized TV channels which focused on Horus quickly got the idea to put a counter in the corner of the screen which kept viewers updated as to the current estimation of surviving players on Terra, and this increased viewer engagement even more. People started to bet credits on how many players were likely to die in the next hour, and the most acute betters made off very well from their analysis of the spreading conflict.

And, of course, the narrative of the resisting players kept everyone\'s attention. The tyrannical Emperor Azerof oppressed the players, ordering his Imperial troops to capture or spam-killing hundreds of thousands of high-level players.The people watching were filled with outrage on behalf of these people whose careers were now ruined without hope of ever reaching the same heights again.

It was a real nightmare for the players stuck on Terra, and one the viewers in the real world strongly empathized with.

As the conflict continued, the bookmakers expanded and refined their gambling opportunities. For the grand mission against the warehouse "Souley," the bookmakers gave an odds of 5 for the survival of a part of the expedition. Meanwhile, the death of the entire expedition had an odds of 1.86. Many people estimated that the players had no way to win,especially after the simultaneous defeat of the Rebel and Eternal fleet.

There were also bets available regarding individual players being captured by the Imperials. Apophis, for example, had an odds of 2 on his possibility of escaping Terra. Meanwhile, Ceasar, since he\'d been killed on Cronos I, had an odds of 4.8.

On the forums, the situation was even more ludicrous. This whole event on Terra had been supposed to be a relatively simple situation—albeit a dangerous and exciting one—but it had rapidly grown into one of the most captivating events ever seen in a video game. Almost all the players had previously organized themselves to help, handicap, or even take advantage of the war on Cronos I, so nearly every player was directly tied to the events on Terra.

Some even killed themselves on Cronos I just to respawn on Terra and join this historical event! This was, of course, a terrible idea. The Imperial Army snatched them up almost as soon as they respawned at the Valor Temple… or, rather, its wreckage.

All this excitement was nearly at a critical point even before it was announced that there would be an attack on the warehouse "Souley," one of the most fortified areas in the entire Empire. Every streamer and game journalist lurking on the forums jumped at the opportunity to cover the event… or, even better, to participate!

The famous Pro-Streamer, who had been killed by Apophis\'s attack on Cronos I, was no exception.

So he wasted no time in joining the effort on Terra. Despite the intense chaos all around him as the mission was about to begin, he remained completely professional. He started his stream with a huge smile.

"Heyyy, this is Pro-Streamer! We are live at what looks like the beginning of the biggest Raid in the history of video games—all the greatest players of Horus are present! It\'s the ultimate denouement of this past week of brutal fighting for our survival on this damned planet! If we fail here, everything is over! This is our only way! So don\'t hesitate to support me massively by following me and giving up!"

***

Terra—Outside Warehouse "Souley"—Five Minutes Before the Stellar Dragon Spawned

The hundreds of thousands of players who had been attacking the warehouse were still holding on bravely against the Assault Mechas. Their numbers were dropping drastically, leaving only 500,000 left out of the 1,700,000 who had begun the fight!

Despite the chaos of the battle, Lotus and the other officers were still doing an incredible job of managing the troops. It was truly the greatest strategic feat that had ever been seen in a VRMMORPG.

Even though the losses were heavy, everyone remained concentrated on the ten Assault Mechas who made up the current forces of the enemy. The players\' mission was quite simple: hold on at all costs! Everyone hoped beyond hope that the best players in the Raid would find a weapon within the warehouse that was strong enough to destroy their enemies… but there was no Plan B to fall back upon if they failed.

These machines from hell were slaughtering more and more of them, and many players had to face the reality that they would likely lose their careers altogether if a mecha killed them.

The situation was harder and harder with every passing minute. Tensions rose with every additional squad added to the thousands who had already been exterminated...

But then something strange happened.

Orders vanished completely.

The chain of command of this kind of mega-Raid was pyramid-shaped. Each officer and sub-officer had to interpret and act according to the orders he received from above. The effect of a new order was like a shockwave on the surface of a lake, and the flow of the battle relied on these orders coming as steadily as rain. In the middle of this gigantic battle, the cessation of orders was an alarming and catastrophic event.

The remaining command officers desperately tried to take over as best as they could, but they hadn\'t prepared for this eventuality. The ordinary players quickly realized they were no longer being led by Commander Lotus, and the battlefield burst almost at once into panicked anarchy.

Players ignored their allies and their officers, deserting the battle in a panic to save their characters from destruction. It was as though their own lives were at stake!

The Assault Mechas reacted quickly to the situation. It was immediately obvious to the trained professionals of the Imperial Army that the player\'s front lines were collapsing and would provide no more resistance. The mechas switched their tactics to simply sweeping the battlefield with their weapons, casually slaughtering as many players as possible to magnify the panic.

Unfortunately for the players, the Vk.5 Assault Mecha was primarily a ranged war machine. By fleeing, the players were only opening themselves up to long-range missile fire, which was impractical to use at closer ranges.

Thousands of players ran around like chickens while laser beams decapitated them and repulsion missiles vaporized entire groups.

However, this extermination was cut suddenly short when a huge earthquake shook the planet and a massive beam of energy blasted out of the reinforced roof of the warehouse, piercing the sky!

All the players suddenly cheered, even the deserters. Surely, this meant that the infiltration groups had succeeded! Within moments, that beam of energy would manifest into a weapon to vaporize the mechas and save them all!

Celebratory messages sped through the planetary chat channel."We did it! We did it!"

"AHaahahah We are Winner!"

"GREAT! GENIAL!"

"Get ready, Azerof, you\'re next!"

But the explosion of joy on this chat channel quickly turned into apprehension as everyone became aware of the titanic red dragon which hung motionless in the sky.

"What the hell is that?"

"Uh, you think it\'s a friendly creature?"

"Mom, why does it say the creature\'s level is 200?!"

The monstrous dragon which had just emerged from the dimensional rift remained motionless for a few minutes, during which time everyone, players and Imperials alike, simply stared up while holding their breaths.

Then a bone-shaking growl thundered through the whole planet. Players began to have doubts as to whether this creature was really on their side after all… Could it be that someone had betrayed them?!

Then things got even stranger.

Server Announcement: The player "Lucifer" [ranked 2nd in the Global Ranking] has challenged the player "Apophis" [ranked 1st in the Global Rankings] to a death match.

Server Announcement: A live broadcast of the fight is now available in your main menu!

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*European betting often uses the "Decimal Odds" format, in which (stake)x(odds)=payout. Therefore, odds of 2 is the break-even point.